Page 7 of Flippin' Cowboy
So was Winnie, come to think of it. She was sure no one would want to hire her to renovate their house once Geoff and Melanie finished trashing her reputation.
Her appetite vanished. She pushed her half-full plate away and grabbed for her untouched mimosa. “Here’s to Geoff and Melanie. May they get all the happiness they deserve,” she said bitterly.
A gloomy silence descended around the table. Winnie polished off her drink, and Summer immediately rose to refill it.
“I know this probably isn’t the best time to ask,” Grandma Abigail said at last. “But would you consider coming home? I desperately need your help with a restoration project.”
Chapter 3: Cold Comfort
Winnie perked up. “That place is still standing?”
On her trips home, she’d noticed the Snowberry Springs Inn falling into ruin. After its latest owner passed away without a will, it had closed down. His relatives then spent years fighting over the property, which stood vacant on the outskirts of town.
The large nineteenth-century brick building housing the inn had once belonged to Winnie’s several times great-grandmother, Caroline Snowberry, who had helped found Snowberry Springs. After Caroline’s death, it had passed through several owners before becoming The Snowberry Springs Inn & Resort sometime during the 1960s.
“Yes, and I recently purchased it in hopes of renovating it before the LVR arrives next spring,” Grandma replied. “It’s a beautiful old place, but time hasn’t been kind to it.”
“What’s an LVR?” Karla asked, puzzled.
“Stands for the Livingston Vintage Railroad. It’s an old steam train with restored antique carriages that’ll be ferrying tourists from Livingston down to the North Entrance of Yellowstone,” Dad explained. “It’ll have a bus connection from the BozemanAirport to the old railroad depot in Livingston and stops in Snowberry Springs and a few of our neighboring towns in Paradise Valley.”
“I’m hoping it’ll revive our Airbnb business,” Mom said.
The Snowberry Springs Ranch had ten guest cabins that Mom and Dad rented out during the summer months to earn extra income.
The idea of going home to Snowberry Springs for a while to escape the storm of negative publicity sounded great to Winnie. She needed time to figure out her next step.
“Just to be clear, you’re asking Winnie to take on a restoration project for a historic building in her hometown?” Karla asked slowly.
“Yes!” Grandma Abigail said. “And Winnie would do a great job, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely.” Karla brightened. “And you know what? It’s also the perfect pitch for The Renovation Channel. I’m sure the execs will be on board for a Winnie redemption show, especially if it involves restoring a historic inn in her cute mountain hometown.” She turned to Winnie, her dark eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed under her smooth brown complexion. “What do you think, Winnie?”
“I really love the idea,” Winnie said with genuine enthusiasm. Rescuing the old building called to her.
Besides, she needed a project that would keep her too busy to think about Geoff and her wedding day humiliation.
And there was one more benefit. “Best of all, this project will take me seven hundred and fifty miles away from Geoff and Melanie,” she added. “Count me in.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, Winnie,” Grandma Abigail beamed at her. “I bought that building five years ago, and I always thought you should be the one to bring it back to life. But then you got the deal for that TV show, and it’s kept you so very busy.”
“Would you excuse me one more time?” Karla asked, rising from her seat. “I need to make a few calls.”
Winnie downed her second mimosa, then pulled her plate closer. The bacon and fluffy scrambled eggs were suddenly looking good again.
Brunch was over and the kids were helping to clear the table by the time Karla returned. This time, she was smiling.
“Great news!” she declared, as Brock came around to top up everyone’s coffee. “The execs agreed to finance a new show covering the inn’s restoration. We’re calling itWinnie’s Hometown Inn Projectfor now, but the name may change later.”
“Oh, my!” Grandma Abigail clapped her hands, her eyes bright under her impeccably styled silver hair. “That’s wonderful! Having Snowberry Springs featured on TV is bound to bring in lots of visitors, don’t you think, Bob and Priscilla?”
Winnie’s parents nodded. “Sounds great,” Mom said.
“There’s just one teeny thing,” Karla said.
Winnie instantly went on high alert. She recognized her producer’s tone and expression. Karla was about to drop some kind of bombshell.
“The network execs green-lighted the project on one condition. We need to bring Nick Evans on board to work with Winnie.”
